Rapunzel in Ishiyama style!
by Illusion137
Summary: After the field trip to Okinawa, another school festival is imminent. What awaits the Ishiyama guys this time? And how will Oga make up with Hilda?
1. Once upon a time

**Disclaimer**: I do _NOT_ own Beelzebub! All recognizable characters belong to Tamura Ryuuhei.

**Dedication**: To all Oga & Hilda fans out there… ;-)

**A/N**: For those of you who don't know the story "_Rapunzel_": it's a German fairy tale from the Grimm's stories, which you _don't_ need to read first before reading this fan fiction. _Basically, Rapunzel is a beautiful girl who's entrapped by a witch inside a very tall tower. The only way to enter there is to climb up the girl's long braided hair. Then, one fateful day, a prince comes by and…_ I hope you'll enjoy this one! :)

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><p><strong>Rapunzel in Ishiyama style!<strong>

_For you I would crawl  
>Through the darkest dungeon,<br>Climb a castle wall.  
>If you're my Rapunzel<br>You let your hair down  
>Right in through the window.<br>Good they locked the door  
>'Cause I do my best for you.<em>

"_**Rapunzel" – by Dave Matthews Band**_

**Chapter 1: **_**Once upon a time…**_

"I'M HERE TO RESCUE YOU, DUMBASS! NOW SHUT UP AND WAIT FOR ME!"

"STOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!" Furuichi moaned for the umpteenth time. "Cut it out already!"

"Damn you, Furuichi, what is it this time? Don't you dare tell me I made another mistake…" Oga scowled at his best friend. "Who did even appoint _you_ to the director in the first instance?" He complained, pointing his finger accusingly at Furuichi.

"That was _me_!" Kunieda entered the classroom and put one hand on her chest. "Since he's the only one who can deal with you two principal performers or should I rather say: brawlers?"

"Thank you, Kunieda-san!" Furuichi beamed with joy at her words, though they weren't meant to be a compliment, and was fully proud of himself. "Oga! Is it asked too much of you to remember a _single_ line and say it in the right place? It's the best known line of the _whole_ _play_ after all!" He closed his eyes and recited dreamily. "You only need to say: '_Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, so that I may climb the golden stair_!'"

"That's all bullshit!" Oga protested, still refusing to repeat that line. "Which fool would cling to a girl's hair to climb up a tower instead of bringing a rope or something along? And 'Rhubarb' is the most stupid name I've ever heard! Who would call his daughter '_Rhubarb'_?"

"It's '_Rapunzel'_, douche!" Furuichi corrected and wondered how _short_ Oga's short-term memory could be.

"I agree with Oga there for once." Hilda, who was sitting on a chair on top of the teacher's desk, commented dryly. "Why do I have to play a girl who's named after a corn salad?"

"Please, don't start complaining, too, Hilda-san." Furuichi begged. "You know that we've had a fair vote for the roles. And you've been chosen for the part of Rapunzel."

"Does this even count as a 'fair voting' when we've been absent, feeding the Master on the roof, and haven't even participated in that vote?" Hilda asked, implying to Oga and the sleeping baby in the corner.

"That's a good argument…" Hanazawa wondered, playing around with the pink flower in her orange hair. "However, it wouldn't make a difference since you and Oga got nearly _all_ votes, wifey! After all, there were only one vote for Creepichi and Natsume-kun as the Prince and a single vote for Aoi-neesan as Rapunzel." The girl turned to their leader next to her. "Oi, Nene-san! Have you voted for Aoi-neesan?"

"Eh?" Nene was surprised at her sudden question. "No… I've voted for Oga's wife because Aoi-neesan has mentioned that Rapunzel also has golden hair before. Seems like everyone here has overheard that and just voted for the couple to bring out a love scene. Besides…" She leaned to Hanazawa's ear and whispered. "I've voted for them so that Neesan would give up on Oga…"

"Mhm, mhm!" Hanazawa nodded appreciative. "But who's voted for the other three then? Don't tell me that Neesan has voted for herself and Oga!" She shrieked lowly but still audible to Kunieda.

"S-stop talking nonsense!" Kunieda blushed instantly. "I've already told you that I've voted for Hilda-san because of her golden hair!" She turned away from them and pondered quietly. "_Although I haven't considered the possibility that _Oga _would get the part of the Prince and assumed that Natsume would _definitely_ become the Prince because of his looks…"_

"Maybe…" Chiaki joined Nene and Hanazawa. "… that _pedophile_ has voted for himself and Aoi-neesan."

The other two nodded in agreement and glared at the so-called 'director'. That was the only plausible possibility.

Kunieda sighed at the progress of their work. "Listen, everyone! We need to perform 'Rapunzel' on the next school festival in order to pay for our last field trip to Okinawa. Even if Saotome-sensei has been able to convince the principal of our participation, we still need to give the money back to Sensei since he's paid for our costs."

"Ol' Beardy would waste on drink anyway so we better keep the money!" Oga presented the crude facts.

Kunieda got angry at his words and lack of interest since he was a class representative, too. "I do _NOT_ care what he's going to do with the money and you guys can't get out of this easily! We're going to perform and pay him back! End of story!"

"Yeah, yeah… whatever!" Oga caught only half of her words. "And why do _I _have to play the stupid Prince?"

"Why not?" Himekawa asked. "You can practice day and night with your wife under the same roof, can't you?"

"And who could perform love and stuff better than a husband and wife?" Kanzaki added from behind.

"Stop talking!" Kunieda restored calm. "We still have a lot of work to do. The costumes?"

"Well, the Prince's costume is ready but we're working on Rapunzel's." Nene explained.

Hanazawa took over and went on. "Our dresses at hand are too tight for wifey that her 'melons' aren't fitting in each of them! I've thought that Neesan would get the main part and we wouldn't have a problem with Rapunzel's costume…"

"D-don't you always compare my chest measurement with hers!" Kunieda became agitated and glanced at Hilda above, who was currently reading her text unknowingly. She cleared her throat and continued. "A-anyway,… what about props?"

"We've got the swords and other equipment." Toujo, who was in charge of that group, reported back pensively. "But we haven't finished the tower yet. I still can't decide on the layout or the inside diameter of the window…"

Kunieda got a headache and rested her palm on her temple. "Toujo, the tower isn't intended for an art exhibition! It's only supposed to be tall and…"

Suddenly, Toujo felt offended and frowned at her seriously. "Kunieda, are you trying to teach me _my_ job? I've already constructed more towers than _you_ can imagine!"

"_Why does he always get so worked up about that_?" She wondered and sighed at his stubbornness. "Fine, just finish it within a week and I'll leave the rest to you." She turned to Furuichi and his group. "Let's do the 'Prince-meets-Rapunzel' scene again since it's the climax but still the most problematic scene."

"It'd be less problematic if Oga learned his text at last!" Furuichi stated as a matter of fact.

"Furuichi, shut the fuck up or I'm gonna cram rotten Rapunzel in your chops!" Oga spoke out a genuine threat. "How the hell am I supposed to memorize all that crap?"

"Yeah, considering the size of _your_ useless brain, it's impossible."

After that straight comment, the room became silent for a moment. Oga looked up at the source of the monotonous voice whereas the others wondered what a ruthless Rapunzel _and_ wife Hilda was to say something like that to her own husband. Indeed, her personality was so unsuitable for the part of Rapunzel but they didn't want to make a new voting because none of them wanted to risk getting the main parts and con pages of text. Hilda seemed to enjoy the part of Rapunzel as well, so why not letting Oga just be her punching bag!

"Did you say something, Hilda?" Oga grinned at her evilly while his left eye was twitching. "I can't understand you from there so come down if you have something to say! _I dare you!_"

"Fool, it says that _you_ must climb up on your own." She referred to the script in her hand and smiled coldly at him, resting her free hand under her chin. "But much to my regret, you _can't_ do it by yourself and need my hair to get here, _weakling_." In her opinion, the fairy tale itself and the name 'Rapunzel' were rubbish but she liked the idea that the hot rock Oga relied on her help for once.

Of course, Oga let provoke himself and started rolling up his sleeves. "You asked for it, you little…" Just when he wanted to jump up, Baby Beel woke up and started crying, obviously asking for his milk.

"Timeout." Hilda stated quite honestly and jumped down, landing in front of the baby.

"What? You can't take a break without my allowance!" The director shouted through his megaphone. "We're in the middle of rehearsal!"

Hearing his protests, Hilda glared at him with a murderous intent, which made him freeze. "The Master needs me _now_ so I'm leaving whenever _he_ wants!"

Furuichi shook immediately and tried hard to keep hold of his megaphone. "O-OK! The performance group is dismissed for today. But make sure to learn your texts at home, got it _Oga_?" He shouted the last part into his megaphone.

Actually, Oga was standing next to him and got annoyed by the soul-destroying gadget. He horrified Furuichi by kicking the megaphone out of his hand and made it explode on the ceiling. "I've told you to keep your trap shut! You're making my ears bleeding!"

* * *

><p>"L-let your hair down Rhu-… Ra-…?" Oga reflected hard but couldn't guess right on the name. He already earned a deadly serious glare from Hilda and low grunts from Furuichi.<p>

It was evening, past 8pm that day. Alain Delon, who was sitting next to Furuichi on Oga's bed, massaged the director's shoulders. "Calm down, Takayuki."

All in vain though, since the latter was practicing with the Prince for hours now so that he was just about to lose his nerve. "It's either the name or the complete phrase!" Furuichi spoke through his gritted teeth. "Lordy, just say the whole line properly for _once_!"

"Stop barking around here, moron! You'll wake Beel up!" Oga hissed back and glanced at the wet nurse next to him, asking for her support.

Right on cue, Hilda really opened her mouth to say something. "Furuichi is right!"

"WHAT?" They shouted in unison. Neither Oga nor Furuichi expected those words from her, conceding a point to Furuichi. On top, she rarely called him by his name and usually used 'Creepichi' or many other terms of abuse.

The blonde looked away and went on. "Even a chimp is more skilled in using his brain than you, douche!"

A vein popped out of Oga's head. He just didn't get why Hilda was especially offensive today. "Eh? You prefer a _chimp_ playing your Prince instead?" he asked acidly. "You heard her, Alain Delon. Go and find a zoo on night shift; _Hilda needs a chimp_!"

Furuichi and Alain Delon shivered with the sudden change of the atmosphere as the temperature dropped rapidly in the room. Just when the third world war between humans and demons was about to break out, Misaki barged in. "Hilda-chan, could you help me preparing dinner, please?" the elder sister asked politely.

Hilda nodded in agreement and followed her, murmuring a last statement that didn't escape Oga's sharp senses. "You don't understand it at all… "

After the door was closed again, Oga looked at the other two men bewilderedly. "What is it _this_ time?"

Furuichi sighed and disappeared into Alain Delon's split body. "Guess rehearsal is over for today. You're a dead loss, Oga!"

Before the transdimensional demon teleported away, he gave Oga a clue. "I'm looking forward to the play, Oga-dono. After all, it'll be the first time that Hilda-sama is playing the Princess. Otherwise, she always got the role of the witch due to her cold personality at the wet nurse training academy. Sayonara!"

With that said, Alain Delon disappeared into thin air and left Oga behind in realization.

"So she's always wished for that role and never mentioned it once?" Oga reflected as the room finally became silent.

"You got it! Actually, she only hates the name of the girl." Alain Delon's voice resounded in his room although he has long since left.

His voice startled Oga for a moment and he swore to never speak out his thoughts aloud again.

* * *

><p>The day of performance came along with the school festival. The show of the Ishiyama class was sold out since nobody really expected something decent to come out of it, not to mention they would rehearse properly. In fact, Hilda refused to practice with Oga after what happened last time so they ended up doing separate rehearses. Everybody, including the Ishiyama guys themselves, waited for their results and thought the same.<p>

Most likely, it'd be a disaster!

The only enthusiastic viewer was assumedly the little future Demon King, who was sitting on Alain Delon's lap on the front row and waiting for his '_parents'_ to perform. Oga, who was standing backstage behind the curtain, sneaked a peek at the baby. "Is this going to be alright, Furuichi?"

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about him, you wannabe father." That appellation earned Furuichi a glare of his best friend. He ignored it and went on. "You're onstage most of the time and as long as Alain Delon and Beel sit there on front row, you'll always be arranged within a radius of 15 meters."

"But… what if Alain Delon goes for a slash? Or if Beel gets hungry?"

"My God! Then, he'll just teleport his urine somewhere else!" the director replied hysterically. "Don't you even try getting out of your part now! We're pulling that through, no matter what! Or could it be…" he narrowed his eyes at the Prince and grinned teasingly. "…that you're suffering from _stage fright_ right now?"

Oga smacked the back of Furuichi's head hard. "Stop talking bullshit and don't mistake me for yourself, idiot! We both know how you've avoided Kunieda lately, after failing as the director!"

Furuichi rubbed his head and glared at him. "And _whose_ fault do you think it is? If you and Hilda-san hadn't screwed up…" He stopped midsentence when the look in Oga's eyes changed and his eyes became fiery by the bare mention of Hilda's name. "A-anyway… Hilda-san gave Alain Delon a few bottles of milk so you really don't need to concern yourself with Baby Beel right now and can fully focus on the show."

"Hn…" was the Prince's sole response as he fixed his eyes on the baby but actually stared into space.

Furuichi looked at him concerned. "Oga, don't tell me that you haven't talked to her for a week yet."

Silence.

"Haven't you guys come here together?"

"I've come with Alain Delon and left home before her. Guess she flew with her Akbaba…" Oga stated indifferently.

"Oga, I've told you to go over the text together at the least once."

"…"

Oga's silence flustered him even more. "Just forget about the stupid play! It's _Hilda-san_ we're talking about! After her abduction, you were worried sick about her! You even attacked the demons and that Jabberwock on your own although your chances of winning alone were almost _zero_! And all that because you lo-…"

"Oi, Furuichi!" Nene came to the two boys and took command as Kunieda's representative. "We're about to start so take your place. You're the prompter after all."

"Y-yeah, I'm coming, Nene-san." Furuichi shot a last glance at Oga and sighed at his stubbornness. "Alright, I'm leaving now and _you_ do your best, you proud asshole!"

"Furuichi!" Oga stopped him for the last time before the show started. "Where is that bitch now?"

Furuichi smiled a little. Eventually, Oga _was_ caring for her secretly. "She's already on the tower. Be sure to save her from the witch!"

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><p>Once upon a time, there was a very, very handsome, cool, popular, young Prince. He was so strong that anybody, who dared to challenge him, ended up kneeling before him.<p>

The Prince was on his way to conquer a nearby territory when he suddenly heard the sound of a harp. Its tune was quiet, maybe a little bit far away. However, the gentle melody clanged through the dense forests and reached up to his ears.

Prince Oga got curious and wanted to meet the source of that enchanting melody. He battled his way through the mammoth trees until he got to a tall and gorgeous tower. The music was definitely coming from that tower so the person who played the harp had to be inside.

Oga walked a few times around the tower but he couldn't find an entrance. "_Who would build a tower without a door but a single window?"_ he wondered, scratching his head.

Wait! A tower without an entrance?

That reminded him of a story that a passerby told him just a few hours ago. She warned the Prince against a cursed tower deep in the forest and that he should stay away from it, no matter what happened. But Prince Oga wanted to meet that person at all costs since he or she was somehow able to touch his heart with the magical tune of a simple instrument that made him feel eased instantly. He couldn't get in the tower but perhaps, he could take a glance of the person if he lured him or her.

The Prince brought his hands to his mouth and shouted. "Oi, stop playing around! You're distracting people from doing their job!" It was half of the truth though because he was on a mission and the sound really caught his interest.

He detected something golden popping out from the window. That would be the responsible person playing the harp, he assumed.

A female voice answered him back from above. "I can't stop playing. It's the only way to contact the person I'm waiting for…"

"_The person she's waiting for_?" Oga repeated her words. "Wait; are you the witch by pure chance? If that's the case, then come down and let's fight! I'm here to defeat you and conquer this land!"

"Fool, would I imprison myself here if _I_ were the witch? Don't compare me with that whore!"

She had a point there.

"Ok then… may I ask you whom you're waiting for?" the Prince shouted. "And why are you even captive?"

"Well… she often scolds me that I'm the only one who could get in her way." she explained. "I'm waiting for a person who'll find and rescue me from here."

"Hmm…" the Prince knitted his brows and reconsidered. "Can't you just get out of there on your own?"

She glared at him. "Would I still be here if I could? Seriously, now I'm sure that _you're_ definitely _not_ the person I'm waiting for, stupid!"

Oga glared back but he doubted that she saw him. He just wanted to say something when rolling thunder came along with dark clothes. The blonde above panicked.

"Hurry up and run away! The witch is coming!"

He wanted to stay and protest about her previous insult, but seeing her horrified face, he just nodded and disappeared. Nevertheless, instead of running away, he climbed up a tree and observed what was going on. A group of armed men followed a person wearing a dark cloak and halted immediately in front of the tower.

"_This must be the witch_!" Prince Oga grinned and grasped at his sword. He didn't assume that he'd meet her so soon.

The witch looked left and right and ensured that nobody was around. That was Oga's chance to attack her. He wanted to jump out of his hideout and affront the witch when the latter took off her hood and revealed her true identity.

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><p><em><strong>AN: **__This story was supposed to be a one-shot but I decided to divide it into two chapters. Otherwise, it's get too long…_

_I'm sure that most of you recognized the first lines of the story. It's one of my favorite quotes from Oga, so I wanted to use them here since I got inspired to write this story after reading chapter 131 (Hilda's abduction and her being captive)._

_Please review and tell me which parts/scenes/lines you like the most or believe is frail and give me a feedback. It'd be really helpful to improve my further stories since I'm going to continue writing about this couple. So the more you review, the better for you and more qualitative stories, dear readers! ;-)_

_PS: Any guesses who the _witch_ might be?_


	2. Climbing the Tower

**A/N: **The following readers guessed right who the witch is: **Massu Chan**, **DarkerThanBlack98**, **FeuWitch**, **twilightHaru86**, **purplesparkz02**. However, I want to congratulate two readers, _**Dolly**_ and _**JohnTitor**_ who didn't only guess but stated the _obvious_ and told dead sure right away, who the witch _definitely_ is! Btw, other guesses were_ Yolda, Kanzaki _and_ Himekawa._

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><p>I think the world of you<br>With all of my heart I do,  
>This blood through my veins for you.<br>You alone have all of me  
>From you my strength is so full<br>To carry your burdens, too.  
>I give my word to you.<p>

"_**Rapunzel" – by Dave Matthews Band**_

**Chapter 2: Climbing the Tower**_**  
><strong>_

"_Kunieda is the witch_?"

Oga almost cried aloud but was able to contain himself at the last moment. "_No wonder that Nene Oomori's the one bossing Furuichi around today_…" He didn't know why that surprised him so much first but thinking of "Rapunzel's" previous comment, it somehow made sense for him now.

"_Don't compare me with that _whore!" was what she said earlier.

Yeah, that was quintessentially Hilda and her low opinion of Kunieda!

Oga didn't know why those two were quarrelling each time they met. Perhaps, it was because of Baby Beel and Hilda didn't want Kunieda to get so close to her master. "_Tsk, women have some ridiculous reasons to pick a fight_!" he thought. That was also a reason why _he_ didn't fight any woman. Well, when two men, like Oga and Toujo were fighting, they were putting their heart and soul in it. But when two women, like Hilda and Kunieda were fighting, the only one who got hurt and beaten up in the end would be Oga himself! For example, he remembered that one time when he had exchanged bodies with Baby Beel after Super Milk Time…

He turned his head immediately to the crew backstage as if asking for the meaning of all this. They all grinned at him nervously with that '_We had a fair vote_'- expression on their faces. Only Furuichi was uneasy about the whole situation and seemed to sense how disgruntled Oga was at the moment. The silver-haired fool also knew whom Oga would vent his wrath on later, so he raised his hands defensively, begging pardon.

Or he was just muttering his last prayers.

"So much for the director!" Oga frowned at his best friend and tried to concentrate on the play again. Meanwhile, the witch, alias Kunieda, had already climbed up the tower while her henchmen were watching beneath. If he remembered correctly, the Prince was supposed to create confusion and climb up the tower himself now to meet Rapunzel.

In plain language: it was time for the climax, which Oga still hadn't mastered!

Nevertheless, Furuichi and Kunieda counted on that obvious certainty and changed the original story in a pinch: the Prince would climb up the tower and meet Rapunzel. However, the viewers wouldn't see or hear what would happen inside the tower afterwards, so that the whole romantic dialogues between Rapunzel and the Prince were cleverly obviated. Especially Kunieda insisted that the '_lovey_-_dovey'_ part, that was how Furuichi described it, was left out because Oga and Hilda would ruin it by starting to argue again.

In the event, the Prince would get down after a few minutes, encounter the henchmen and in the final stages… well, he should remember the end of the story until that time came or else, he would be dead meat for sure this time!

Fortunately, he still had some time left to remember the end of the play for now. Nonetheless, he currently had a bigger problem, or rather two problems to be more precise.

Firstly, he still didn't manage to recite that famous line straightly a single time.

The second, and probably the bigger problem was that he had to spend about five minutes with Rapunzel in that too small room inside the tower, where Rapunzel was imprisoned.

_With_ Rapunzel.

Namely with _Hilda_!

Oga hadn't talked a single word to her for several days since their dispute during their last concerted rehearsal. Even if she was around him all the time, be it in school or at home, he somehow… couldn't feel her presence anymore. As if she was absent like that time when Jabberwock…

"Sift through the whole area!" the witch commanded bitterly cold. "That idiotic Prince hasn't listened to my warnings although I told him to stay away from the cursed tower!"

His chain of thought was broken and he promptly became attentive at her words. "_Who are you calling 'idiotic', you damn witch_?" he whispered. "_As if I'd fall for an obvious lie like that_…"

"Make sure you find him- dead or alive!" The witch brayed around while Oga winced at how realistic Kunieda sounded and how serious she took the whole play. When the witch's followers stood down, she also left the stage after cursing at the audience. "We can't allow him to frustrate my plans! The Princess' existence must stay a secret!"

That was Oga's cue to come out cautiously from his hideout in the forest and go to the tower. He took a deep breath and slapped his chops to calm himself before going back onstage and putting himself in the position of the Prince.

* * *

><p>The Prince looked left and right but there was not a bit from the witch or her men. He then turned his gaze to the small window of the tower and sought after the woman. "Shhh! Oi… are you still there?" he whispered, still audible to the Princess.<p>

He was somehow relieved when Rapunzel finally looked out and seemed to be all right. "Why are you still here? Haven't I told you to run away?"

"Yeah…" The Prince scratched his head and mulled over how to put his thoughts into words. "Before I leave, I want to ask you something. Earlier, you've said that you're an eyesore to the witch, haven't you? Does that mean… that you know a way to defeat her? Like any weakness of her?"

"No, I don't know whether she has a weakness. I doubt that she has any…"

"Then, why are you an obstacle to her, woman?" he asked dully and arched a brow. "Why is the witch even keeping you imprisoned when you're good for nothing?"

"Keep silent, fool!" The woman became sensitive so suddenly and spoke with pride. "I'm the princess of this land and its true owner. I'm Princess Rapunzel."

"_Rapunzel_? This is an odd name for a princess, don't you think, Miss?" the Prince wondered, hearing her uncommon name. Then, slowly but surely, the scales fell from his eyes when he reflected on her words. "W-wait! What did you just say? _You_ are the P-Princess?"

"Don't shout around or do you have a death wish, idiot?" she scowled at him from above. "That witch is still somewhere close so get away from here quickly!"

In spite of her warnings, he didn't move away. He wasn't worried or scared a little bit and had a rather mischievous glint in his eyes. "Now that I've found the true ruler, I can't just disappear, Milady! How about _I'll_ take you out of there instead of you waiting for another person to pass by until the cows come home?"

The Princess noticed his change of character after learning about her true identity. "I don't think that you'd do that so easily. You expect something in return, don't you?"

"What a smart Princess you are!" he grinned sneakily and went on. "Sure, I'd ask you for a tiny reward: I'll free you from this bloody tower and provide security for you in my realm. In return, you'll hand your land over to me without a struggle."

"Fine."

"_Fine_?" he wondered in disbelief. "That was quick…"

"Yes. I don't know why you want to conquer this land but I don't care." she answered quietly and stared into space. "After being captured in this tower for 15 years, the only thing I want is freedom."

"_15 years_? _She has been imprisoned here almost for her _whole_ life_?" Seeing her sad face, the Prince's chest ached for a brief moment. Never before had he seen somebody longing for freedom so badly. Damn, she was even ready to pass on her whole kingdom and live a normal life in order to be free.

"Fine with me." He would keep his word and was about to climb up the tower as the witch did a short while ago. "R-Rhubarb…"

"_Rhubarb_?" she asked in puzzlement.

"Y-Yeah,… I had Rhubarb for lunch today!" he cleared his throat and started once again. "R-Rapunzel! Please, l-let down your hair…" he took a deep breath and finished his sentence. "… so that I can take you anywhere!"

Rapunzel disappeared in the tower and it took her a while to do as he said. After an eerie moment of silence, the tower started to quake immensely for a split second. The sudden shaking startled the Prince as he looked up only to see a heavy bundle of golden hair falling down from the window and hitting him directly in his face. He fought the urge to rub his fingers on the wounded spot, hiding the pain successfully, and began to climb up until he reached the window.

* * *

><p>He did it again.<p>

He forgot that _fucking_ line again!

Oga cursed silently while he was climbing the golden rope, displaying Rapunzel's blond hair, and thought about how to face Hilda now. "_She is mad! She is _definitely_ mad that she will send me directly to hell for sure this time. But before that, I'd get a bunch of scolding from Kunieda and Furuichi, and then become a mock of the whole class, no… of whole _Ishiyama_. The child-rearing badass will become the tower-climbing Jack-ass!" _

Perhaps, it would be the best if Hilda killed him instantly and spared him all the agony. So _this_ was the way the great Oga Tatsumi was going to die? No human was able to match with him and his extraordinary strength until now, so he would end up dying by a demon's, by _Hilda's_ hands? That idea made him somehow grin inwardly though. "_Why not_?" he thought. After all, Hilda was a strong demon, a strong woman who made him even participate in this whole ridiculous play and memorize pages of text. In the end, it was all in vain anyway, since he couldn't recite that _one damn line_ again and messed everything up! That had to be the reason why the stage trembled terribly earlier: Hilda was frustrated, released her demonic aura which caused a shaking and snapped him Rapunzel's hair in his face.

Oga was lost in thought to such an extent and didn't notice that he already reached the window. There was no other way than to confront her now. Come hell or high water…!

He effortlessly ascended towards the window but nearly fell back to the ground again as he caught a glimpse of the woman inside. None too soon, he was able to cling to the window and pull himself with a jolt inside the tower.

"Holy crap…"

He had fallen for her head over heels literally!

Even if she was turning away from him and he only saw her back, the red costume of Rapunzel fitted her perfectly. The dress pointed her slim shoulders out, its décolleté revealing half of them and reaching down to her waist. Its long and wide skirt enwrapped her legs and hid her shoes, high heels probably, since she seemed a few inches taller than usual. Her hair was braided again, but this time to a single straight and long braid, which revealed the real length of her hair falling down her décolleté.

Forgetting about his earlier thoughts about a painless and short death by Hilda's hands, he could only sit there and gawk at the beauty of the Princess. No, it had nothing to do with Rapunzel or the costume.

It was Hilda's own, true beauty.

Was she always so beautiful? Or was he just too blind to see it until now?

His low murmurs made her turn around and the couple faced each other for the first time after a week, which had felt like months or even longer. The front of the dress looked like her dark outfit, which she usually wore, but this one was prettier to a considerable degree. Oga Tatsumi had to admit that he was really impressed by the figure in front of him. Although the light was very dull to reveal her whole appearance. And although _he_ had no sense for beauty, had _never_ been interested in women and had never _ever_ gawked at one with such foolish thoughts for such a long time.

She was so indescribable!

"What are you looking at, _chimp_?"

Oga didn't react.

For the first time in his life, he gave not a single reaction to an insult. Nor did he let himself provoke by Hilda.

"…Oga?" she asked again, but didn't get a reply.

Hilda approached a few steps and closed the distance between them. As she bent down to have a closer look at him, she stiffened. The man sitting in front of her was as white as a sheet, getting paler and paler by any second.

"Oga!" she tried to call him louder this time and shook him slightly, grasping at his shoulders, but the latter was still sitting there motionless.

"Wake up, fool!" She struck out, slapped him straight in his face so that he fell back and knocked his head against the window frame. The impact was strong enough to bring him back to his senses. He inhaled deeply and started coughing because of the loss of air for a moment.

Damn, she looked so handsome that he actually forgot to breath!

"_Has she just casted a spell on me_?" His blurry vision got clearer and he spotted Hilda in front of him, her hand outstretched, and panting heavily. Only then, he felt the pain on his right cheek and rested his palm there, rubbing his wound cautiously.

She just hit him with her whole might.

"So, you're still mad at me, hm?" he was rather talking to himself after he had detected the real Hilda behind the disguise of the Princess.

"You moron! Don't you dare scaring me like this ever again!"

"_Scaring her_?" Oga wondered and thought about the meaning of her words. "Just now, don't tell me that you've been worr…"

"Tsk." She crossed her arms and shook the unfinished question off. "Only _now_, I'm really mad at you."

"Wait, you weren't mad at me before?" he blinked in confusion.

"Why should I? If I got mad at your stupidity each time, I'd already been hospitalized in a madhouse!"

Was she trying to hide her former frustration or did she really mean it? "If you weren't mad at me,… then why did you ignore me for a whole week?"

"Ignoring you? I don't remember such a thing."

"What?" he shrieked in disbelief.

She looked at him nonchalantly. "I was just trying to memorize the whole play and Rapunzel's lines. After all, she's the leading role, who has most of the text to…"

Before she could finish her sentence, Oga pushed her against the nearest wall. Hilda was startled for a moment and shot him a warning glare as if she was just about to complain about his sudden rudeness. However, Oga restrained her from talking by punching the wall immediately next to her head and glared colder than she did, if that was even possible.

"You say you're _not_ mad at all?" He bored his fierce eyes into her green ones and was just about to lose it. "Are you kidding me, _woman_?"

Hilda didn't lose her coolness and actually dared to oppose him whereas others would have already shat their pants. "Hands off or you'll _definitely_ pay for this, Oga Tatsumi!"

"_Pay_ for this?" he echoed and gritted his teeth. "I've already paid enough for this shit! All this time, I wondered how I could satisfy you and took part in this _bloody_ show, played a hair-climbing idiot and made a huge fool out of me! I coned pages of text, practiced day and night so that something decent would arise today."

Hilda couldn't believe what she just heard. She wouldn't believe that Oga might take this to heart to such an extent and play along. To be honest, she didn't even expect that they could attain up to the climax without anybody messing up, especially the Prince. She wanted to say something but was interrupted by him again.

Oga was unstoppable now and lost his temper, listing even the tiniest fact that got on his nerve during the last week. He inhaled deeply and continued in one gasp. "And _who_ has even chosen this Rapunzel crap? A girl being captured in a tower; is this supposed to be funny or what? The mere thought of it irks me and causes me the nausea, reminding me of that Jabawuss bastard and what he did to _you_!"

"Oga…"

"No, Hilda, I'm not finished yet!" He pressed his free hand to her mouth while the right one was still encaging her. "In spite of all that, _I_ decided to play the stupid Prince so that not another jerk would…"

Suddenly, he stopped midsentence and realized what he was just about to say. "_What am I talking about?"_ he thought and looked away from her. How did this conversation turn out like this?

He was startled and almost jumped up when he felt something wet under his fingers. Turning his gaze back to her, Oga saw a small drop rolling down her left cheek. Wait, what was _that _all of a sudden? Was she… crying? She wasn't _crying_, right? It had to be sweat. Yeah, Hilda sweated! The room was so small and warmed up due to their body temperature, right? He had learned something like that in science classes or heard it somewhere else probably…

"_Fuck that Toujo! He was such a proud ass about his tower and didn't manage to build something bigger_?" In fact, it was really getting warmer and warmer in there. Darn it, he felt like he was in _hell_ right now! He assumed that the room was getting hotter by any second so that even Hilda started sweating like crazy.

However, why was she looking at him with those sad eyes right now?

Oga didn't like that. He swiftly wiped off the small drop with his thumb. Then, he slowly traveled his finger down her cheek, feeling her smooth skin under it, until he reached her bottom lip. Her lips. They felt so soft and tender, tinted with the gentle shade of pink. He couldn't tear off his gaze from her lips anymore and wanted to have a closer look. He leaned in closer and closer.

"Oga… what…" Hilda pleaded again.

"Shhh!"

As he was just about to close the last few inches with a prompt motion, an annoying tone started to ring inside the walls of the tower. It surprised both of them so that Oga fell down and landed uncomfortably on his butt while Hilda literally froze on her spot.

"What the hell…?" the clueless Oga looked around as if he had woken up from a deep sleep seconds ago.

"_Hilda-san, can you hear me_?"

"Fu-…Furuichi?" Oga wondered where his voice came from and noticed a small walky-talky in the corner.

"_It's about time that Oga leaves the tower and confronts the witch's men. So if you two are still alright,… and haven't killed each other yet_…" the director rather murmured the last part in his gadget. "… _well, you know what to do_."

After that announcement, Oga stood up rapidly and pretended to wipe his cape off some dust. "Don't worry, Princess." He put himself in the position of the Prince again. "I'll be back to get you out of here in an instant." Then, he walked slowly towards the window where he came from and refused any eye contact with the woman behind him. He only felt the urge to leave that place as soon as possible at the moment.

Getting hold of the golden rope, he wondered what had happened a short while ago. Or rather, what was going to happen if Furuichi didn't give the signal for the next scene. What was wrong with him today? Was he getting sick? First, he almost suffocated by the view of the Princess. Then, he got dangerously close to her and almost…

Oga shook his head wildly and didn't dare to continue his chain of thought. He had to get out of there immediately or else…

"Wait…"

Hearing her low whisper, Oga stiffened. He wanted to somehow react instead of completely ignoring her. "_Don't look_." He commanded himself. "_DO NOT LOOK AT HER, DAMMIT_!" Even if Hilda wasn't specialized in curses like that Salamander bastard, Oga still believed that the source of his strange behavior was a demonic spell, which got activated by her sight. Perhaps, it was triggered by the red color of her dress because he was only used to see her in pitch-black clothes. Now, he could understand how the beasts felt in a bullfighting arena!

He gulped heavily and tried to sound as his usual self. "W-what is it this time?"

Hilda paused for a while before she replied to him. "If I had the choice between you and a chimp,… I'd prefer _you_ playing the Prince."

His head snapped at her sudden and unexpected words. "_Wait, was this supposed to be a compliment_?" In spite of all his previous efforts, he couldn't resist and finally turned his gaze to her direction. She was still standing on the same spot and didn't shift an inch away. She was leaning against the wall and crossing her arms nonchalantly as afore except for a tiny difference.

She smiled.

She was smiling to him like back then, when she had lost her memories and smiled to Baby Beel. It was an honest smile. Back then, she smiled because she was happy from the bottom of her heart. Therefore, would this mean that she was happy now, too? So was he doing well in playing the Prince and succeeded to satisfy her? That thought made him somehow feel at ease.

"Wait for me…" He smirked back at her and turned around to leave but tripped over the window. Instead of the Prince climbing down inconspicuously, he made a nosedive and landed hard on the ground.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**_ *Pants heavily* Phew, I didn't guess that this would be so difficult! Writing about this Oga & Hilda scene in the tower was so troublesome that I even doubted something decent would come out…That's why it took me more than I had planned to publish this chapter since I avoided writing that scene for a while but in the end, there was no escape. Wanna know why it was so difficult? Well, try to put yourself in the position of a guy who hasn't shown any sign of or interest in love yet and write about his feelings!_

_Anyway, I guess the third chapter will be easier to write. Yes, I've decided to divide this into _three_ chapters! And there are several reasons for this: first of all, I'm not a fan of one-shots with over 10K words (don't ask me why) and I also didn't want the second chapter to become longer than the first one. Then, I wanted to include Hilda's POV, too, although this story was planned to be only from Oga's POV (to keep it short). Actually, it was supposed to be a practice for me to write from his POV since I'd need that later for my further stories… _

_*Cough* I've talked enough, right? I guess I'll post the last chapter after updating "_**A Father, A Lover**_". For the meantime, I'll recommend you another Oga & Hilda story if you don't know it already. If you like the Prince's adventure theme and also a funny story (you know: humor is a _must_ for Beelzebub! :D) then you should try reading "_**Grow On You**_" by _**Kitake Neru**_._

_I wish you a wonderful week and enjoy this week's new Beelzebub chapter! ;-)_

_**PS**__: I want to mention that I'm _not_ going to abandon any story, neither the ones for _Beelzebub_ nor _Gakuen Alice_, but I'm afraid that I can't provide you with faster updates for the moment… I appreciate your patience anyway, dear readers. ^_^_


	3. All's well that ends well!

**Disclaimer**: Beelzebub belongs to Tamura Ryuuhei!

**A/N:** _After reading this story myself again and seeing _**Nanamia**_'s review, I could only think: "_WHAT THE HELL DID I DO TO OUR _DEAR_ DELINQUIENT?_" Seriously, I didn't even realize changing Oga this much here since I always try my hardest to keep _him_ in character as much as possible. That's why I accounted this story as a failure for a moment… or at least, it's not perfect in my opinion. I guess I still have a long way to go as a fanfiction-author… For the ones who want to refresh their memories (since I'm a bad author making you dear readers wait for so long), I advise you to at least reread the _tower scene_ once again. Even I had to read it repeatedly to write this chapter..._

* * *

><p>You drive me crazy,<br>Crazy is all right.  
>With you looking at me,<br>You make me feel high.  
>Every single thing you do to me<br>Is like I'm drunk.  
>I do my best for you.<p>

_**"Rapunzel" – by Dave Matthews Band**_

**Chapter 3: **_**All's well that ends well!?**_

"Long time no see, Brother of mine."

"E-Enou-sama!" Alain Delon exclaimed almost too loudly and jumped up from his seat. "W-w-w-w-what a major honor to see you here! M-may I ask you what do we owe this visit for?"

In fact, he was surprised, or rather horrified to see the older son of the great Demon Lord among the audience. What was the meaning of this? Had he come to finish his mission and destroy humanity? Would that mean that Behemoth and his army are also in the human world right now?

"Calm down, Alain Delon."

Alain Delon looked at his right and saw the blue-haired wet nurse with glasses, firmly holding her book of magical spells.

"We're only here to enjoy ourselves once in a while." He turned back to the source of this voice and saw the red-haired Satura leaning on his seat from behind.

"W-wait a second." Alain Delon reflected. "Does that mean you were here from the very beginning?" Now that Alain Delon thought about it, they might have used a disguise magic to hide and seemed like normal students from St. Ishiyama.

"You're right. The hero always shows up in the best moments, don't you know?" Prince En sparkled from his left and thought how cool he had to be looking at the moment. "The truth is that we came to visit my Brother and his human parent since he's promised me to play games with me whenever I want." He crossed his arms and pouted like the spoiled brat he was. "But that Oga Tatsumi wasn't at home! Nonetheless, it's been a piece of cake to detect you guys and that's how we've landed here."

Alain Delon bought his story because the naïve Prince En was never good at lying after all. "S-So, does Enou-sama enjoy the play so far?"

"Not a bit!" he answered with a bored expression.

"Whaaat?!" Alain Delon almost jumped up in excitement again. "W-why not?" he asked nervously while the baby in his arms looked offended and frowned at his older brother.

"It's boooriiing! When is the stupid prince going to fight and rescue the princess? He's so lame that he hides in that tower like forever!" Prince En stretched his arms and legs and leaned back on his seat. Then, he adjusted himself and came up with a brilliant idea. "I know! We'll help them out a little to make the show more interesting." He flipped his fingers with a smug expression.

"I've understood, Master En. Leave it to me." Another voice was heard from the left in a low whisper.

Alain Delon leaned forward and caught a glimpse of the fourth newcomer before she vanished into thin air. "Y-Yolda-san? What's the meaning of this? What is she aiming for?"

"Sit down and be quiet, you two." Isabella warned them in a menacing tone. "This is all for the sake of our dear Master."

Alain Delon had no other choice to do as they said in order to not ruin the exhibition. With a troubled face, he just hoped that everything was going to be fine.

* * *

><p>"… well, you know what to do."<p>

Furuichi spoke into his walky-talky and turned it off. He let out a deep sigh and fixed his eyes on the tower. Since the tall building was still standing there in one piece, he assumed that everything went smoothly until now. Later, he really had to give his special thanks to Toujo and praise him for building a solid construction like that which even Oga and Hilda didn't manage to destroy yet.

Unless… did they probably make up?

"Nooo…" he shook his head in disbelief and laughed weakly. He tried to laugh although he was just about to cry in sheer despair. "Damn, I want to know what's going on in there! Why is Oga still not coming out? I don't wanna be the target of his rage again…"

"Stand back, trash!"

"Hm?" Furuichi lifted his head and saw the blonde-haired woman behind him. "Hilda-san?! What are _you_ doing here?! You're supposed to be inside the tower… and why have you taken off your dress?" He accusingly pointed a finger at her. If Hilda was in front of him right now, it would mean that Oga didn't encounter her yet so no wonder that the atmosphere on stage was still peaceful.

The woman snapped at his words and grabbed his wrist furiously with a deep frown. "Creep, didn't I tell you not to compare me to that _whore_?"

"W-wait a minute…" He had a closer look on her now and remembered her words. "You're YOLDA! Why are you he-…"

"I told you to move away, you disobedient retard!" She shoved him roughly aside and stepped forward.

When Furuichi balanced himself and turned back, he saw her doing some weird signs with her hands, followed by a dull light flashing briefly on the whole stage. He shut his eyes for a few seconds and after opening them again, he checked the stage from top to bottom without noticing a single change. Then, he turned back to the smug wet nurse, who had an evil grin on her face.

"You… w-what have you done?" he asked, secretly trembling with fear. In his opinion, this couldn't be just a light show to beautify their performance.

Enjoying herself, Yolda explained. "Don't make a fuss about it! I've only casted a harmless illusion spell on them. Treat this as my vengeance for destroying the disc and ignoring my efforts to cancel Salamander's memory erase, _Prince Oga_! And you…" she turned back to Furuichi, "… you're going to help me bullying him a little bit."

Her words sounded more like an order than a plea. The mysterious glint in her eyes told him something like '_or-else, I'll-give-you-a-free-ticket-to-hell_'! Honestly, he wondered which one would be more dreadful: Yolda's unsaid threat and a trip to hell or Oga's freshly harvested grapes of wrath. Well, he was certainly knowing the answer for five years now…

"Take this." She tossed a text panel at him. "You'll lift that and show it to Oga Tatsumi when the right time comes."

Furuichi examined the item in his hands and read the text on it. He reread it again and again… until he understood the meaning of the words. His jaw dropped and eyes grew larger by each passing second as he let out a low shriek. He started sweating like crazy and stiffly shook his head. "_I can't show this to Oga! It would be my _death warrant_!_"

Before he could even refuse or oppose her, he heard a loud crash. Turning his gaze back on the stage, he found Oga lying on the ground in front of the tower.

* * *

><p>"<em>Ouch<em>!"

The hard landing wasn't written in the text!

Leave memorizing all the script and plot aside; walking in that costume was the very last! Oga Tatsumi slowly got up to his feet and tried to erect his sore limbs. "_That damn piece of cloth!_" he thought while rubbing against the back of his head. Not only did he look ridiculously stupid within the shades of green and blue, he had a tough time to not stumble upon the too long cape. Admittedly, he could move his legs easier and more freely in those tight leggings but it didn't change the fact that he was looking like an absurd, _freaking_ _jerk_!

In contrast to his, Hilda's dress was perfectly fitting her. Who would have thought that the clothes you were wearing and its colors could… _change_ one so much. Tsk, he was the one talking, transforming from a rowdy to a pussy with his own costume! Well, not that Hilda really 'changed', but she was looking more like… more like…

Wait_… Hilda_…?

He blinked.

"_Why am I thinking about _HER_ now_?!" he almost cried out and shook his head.

"Oi, whom do we have here?!" a male voice from behind asked.

"A stranger." Another one answered.

"He must be the one our Mistress is looking for."

"You mean that stupid prince?!"

Hearing the last familiar voice, Oga turned around angrily and faced the orange-haired leader. "Who are you calling '_stupid'_, fool!"

"Interesting…" the leader cupped his chin and laughed. "I thought that he'd be much stronger but he looks stupid _and_ weak at the same time."

"The hell I am!" Oga clenched his fists and tried to not get provoked by his insults. "I'm going to take down all of you by myself and kick your mistress' ass!"

"Oh really?!" The whole squad started laughing at him. "You intend to beat all 394 of us on your own?! Not that you'd overwhelm _me_ at all…"

"Really wanna bet on it?!" Oga grinned and cracked his knuckles as one thing caught his attention. "_Wait… there are 394 of them_?" He didn't recall the witch's men being a large amount like that. But where had he heard that number again…?

He looked back at Toujo alias the leader of the squad. However, instead of the orange hulk, there was a dog with sunglasses staring at him. He didn't bear a replacement of the leader in mind and searched for the director. He traveled his eyes swiftly backstage but Furuichi wasn't on his usually visible spot. What was going on? Where did Furuichi and Toujo disappear? And why the hell was this bloody dog SMOKING?

"Don't tell me you've already forgotten about us, Oga Tatsumi."

Oga was fed up to the back teeth and started yelling around. "I've had it! Anybody tell me what's that supposed to mean?! Did you change the play again?! Is this supposed to be a _fucking _joke?! And why's that dog talk-…ing…"

Realization came upon him. It finally sunk in and he remembered where he had seen that dog before. Or the buff gorilla with the giant axe behind. And the weird clown on the left.

Without any doubt, he was facing Behemoth's 34th pillar squad anew.

Something weird was going on; he could follow so far. Oga wondered why those fellas appeared out of nowhere and why the audience was sitting there silently although a bunch of odd creatures occupied the whole scene all of a sudden. Even Baby Beel and Alain Delon looked unconcernedly and undisturbed by the whole situation. Did they all think that it was just part of the play?

_Be it!_

He would find out if he fought against those guys, right? Or rather, he was supposed to do that from the very beginning if he remembered the plot correctly…

"You asked for it!" he shouted and launched his first attack.

The battle proceeded not much different from the previous one. Oga clearly came out on top and eliminated one pillar after the other. Avowedly, he was surprised to advance so fast without Beelze on his side. He was easily defeating them by his human strength alone.

He beat randomly whoever got in his way and opened a straight line like a mowing machine until he reached the last man behind. And it was none other _him_.

Oga grinned at him with fiery eyes. "Now, you're showing up from the very first, _Jabawuss_?! Worried that your team's gonna kick the bucket, aren't ya!"

Jabberwock revealed his sinister smirk as if he got the upper hand. "Kid, we're gonna see who'll kick the bucket this time."

Oga didn't understand what he meant and looked at him questioningly.

"That woman…" Jabberwock explained further and they both knew who was meant. "She won't get away this time!"

Thunderstruck, Oga turned around and looked at the tower. He was horrified to discover that smoke was coming out of the room where she was currently situated.

"HILDA!" he called her aloud but didn't get any answer.

"You won't be able to reach her until you're done here." The General of the Army said before wafting towards the tower.

* * *

><p>After Oga had left the tower, Hilda was still leaning against the wall and she slid down. Her strength was slowly leaving her body, especially her knees, as she didn't have the power to stand on them any longer. She landed on the ground, closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh.<p>

She felt exhausted.

She was as worn out as back then, when she had fought against Hecados for the first time: first, she had felt a sudden stab in her chest and then, her energy had started fading away bit by bit. And what happened there inside the tower a while ago was exactly the same.

The moment, when he touched her cheek.

She unconsciously lifted one hand, placed it on that spot and caressed it for a while. Then, she clenched that hand to a fist and gritted her teeth. What the hell was wrong with that fool? Moreover, what was going on with _her_?! It was just as he had mentioned before.

She _was_ mad at him.

She had refused talking to him or even looking at his nasty sight for sure during the past week. And now, all her anger was blown away in a blink?

To be honest, a sort of anxiety had fallen on her when she saw that former odd, deviant expression of his. But she was relieved that he quickly turned back to his normal self again. She let out a quiet laugh when she thought about it. That side of him - complaining about even the slightest thing bothering him, and letting himself provoke so easily - it somehow reminded her of her Master. Perhaps, that was the reason why she could effortlessly deal with his childish behavior and liked that part of him…

She snapped open her eyes and listened to her own thoughts.

Wait, what was that?

_Liking_ Oga?

Where did _that_ idea come from?!

Sure, she preferred him to many other no-goods and was sometimes impressed by his strength and determination… but that wouldn't mean she _liked_ her. He was only the human father of her Master. And he was the only person whom she would entrust her Master to. But no more, no less…

Nevertheless, what was _he_ thinking of _her_?

Strangely enough, she had never given thought to it until now. Up to recently, she was always thinking that Oga needed her around to do her task and take care of her Master. Additionally, there were cases related to her when he had been acting completely according to her Master's will and not by choice. At least, that was what she had assumed till this day but regarding his words from earlier, she concluded that he _was_ concerned about her abduction after all.

"_I'm here to rescue you_!"

So those were _his_ words and not only Master Beelzebub's desire. Thinking about it this way made her feel uneasy.

"…_it irks me and causes me the nausea, reminding me of that Jabawuss bastard and what he did to _you_!"_

That fool definitely cared for her.

And why did knowing this matter of fact make her… _happy_? Was it enough to make her show emotions, which she disallowed herself painfully for so long? Or was it enough to even let her escape a single tear of joy?

"_Wait for me_…"

Did his words affect her in such a way that she felt weak and couldn't resist him there for a moment? Whereas she had tried hard to suppress the scene from before all along, she seriously started wondering what would have happened if Furuichi hadn't meddled.

"You should see how pathetic you're looking right now, Hildegarde! I gravely wonder who's brought you to your knees…!"

Hilda was appalled by the bitter voice of the intruder and stood up in a flash. She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Jabberwock in person getting in through the window.

"Tsk." She didn't show any sign of fear and summoned her sword. "Confessedly, you caught me off guard there for a second but…" she grabbed her weapon and swung it in the air, "… don't you think I'd notice a Demon at Jabberwock's level from kilometers away? However…" she prepared for a strike and aimed her sword at her opponent, "… I can't say the same of you, _Yolda_!"

"Still a stuck-up bitch; you never change! How did you realize that it was me?!" her sister spoke through Jabberwock's appearance.

"Since you're the only one usually addressing me as 'Hildegarde'! What's up with this chintzy illusion? Why are you even here and what are you planning to do?!"

"Calm down or you'll get wrinkles at your young age if you always frown like that." Yolda commented teasingly as Jabberwock's image started fading away and revealing a different person. "I've only casted a tiny spell on your idiotic Prince to entertain our dear Master En, so you'll have to play along a little bit until he notices it." Hilda glared at her as she called him '_her'_ Prince although she agreed to the idiotic part. Nonetheless, Yolda just ignored it and went on. "Due to the fact that he isn't as smart and experienced in magic as you, I doubt that he'd actually be able to break the spell though. By the way, you guys are performing a fairy tale right? I'm not sure whether such a scene exists in this story but…" she used her abilities and spread apart the walls, "… how about the Bitch and the Witch fight for their beloved Prince?!"

With that said, Yolda's voice slowly disappeared with a resounding laugh and Jabberwock's figure turned out to be Kunieda alias the Witch with a katana in fighting position - probably under Yolda's spell like the others.

Both women, also known as archfiends, stood there motionless and stared at each other in silence for a while. Whereas the unconscious Kunieda waited for Hilda to strike first, the latter was angrily clenching her weapon until her knuckles turned white. She didn't wait any longer and attacked as her opponent expected her to do, barely controlling her rage.

She wasn't angry because the show was ruined while it surprisingly seemed to go smoothly. Or she wasn't angry because she disgraced herself in front of the other wet nurses. But if Yolda casted her third-class illusion from the beginning, then…

Hilda gritted her teeth and attacked even more violently if possible.

"_So that's the reason why the fool's been acting so strange_!"

She needed to vent her wrath on somebody now and kill Yolda and Oga afterwards. Fortunately, Kunieda came right on cue and took stick. Hilda tore the cape of the Witch up when the latter counterattacked and cut the golden rope off, which was bound to the Blonde's own hair. Both of them seemed to be on a par. Hilda was guided by her fury and Kunieda was still controlled by Yolda. Even if they didn't seem to be themselves at present, they spared no effort to win this fight although it was a question of an unimportant play. Actually, Hilda would have the edge over Kunieda since her rival wasn't even in her right mind. In spite of that, Hilda herself was preoccupied and consequently, she was asleep at the switch.

"_That imbecile, dimwitted, stupid, cockeyed, dumbass, foolish_,…" she mentally swore at a certain someone while launching a sword slash by each insult.

* * *

><p>Either he completely forgot counting or those bloody pillars were insistent skipjacks!<p>

No matter how many times Oga defeated them; their number didn't seem to decrease. He remembered punching that smoking dog for the third time now. Damn, he didn't have time for all this crap! He needed to get to Hilda as soon as possible…

He didn't pay attention for a moment and noticed too late that he was surrounded. The enemy was already about to make an assault upon him, hence he had no other choice but to take a beating. Not till then, Oga noticed that their attacks didn't cause him any pain. He sensed their fists making contact with his but they didn't hurt him at all. Alright, something beyond his faculty of thought was going on. However, since he was only exhausting himself by taking the army on, he could also just ignore them and proceed to the tower, right?

Without questioning that idea, he forced his way to the said destination. Arriving there, he singly thought of getting Hilda out of there. In any case, there was merely one way to attain to her.

"Hilda, are you all right?!" he shouted.

Hearing his voice from above, Hilda interrupted her battle and stepped back. Nevertheless, she was still angry with him and didn't respond on purpose.

"Hilda! I know that you're inside so gimme that fucking rope _dammit_!" Slowly but surely, Oga was returning to reality as he concentrated his attention more and more on the discussion, and was kind of spoiling for a fight with her as usually happened.

Assuming that he was still under the spell, she ignored him and murmured lowly: "You can wait until hell freezes over!"

Even so, her words reached him in some way whereupon a vein popped out from his head. He began to lose his poise, thus he took a deep breath and yelled full-throated the first thing that came to his mind in the heat of the moment: "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, so that I may climb the golden stair!"

Her heart skipped a beat. Hearing his loud words clearly enough, she was earnestly surprised. On second thought, it couldn't be really Oga himself who said the famous line correctly and fluently in one breath. Of course, it had to be due to Yolda's possession magic that he managed to say it properly.

"Rapunzel!" she heard him shouting one more time.

Furiously, she grabbed the bunch of cut, golden rope lying next to her on the ground and defenestrated it. "JUST GO TO HELL, MORON!"

It wasn't like the first time, when the end of the rope hit his face. No, Hilda threw the entire rope down with her whole might and took accurate aim this time. The impact was strong enough to bring even Oga to his knees. He felt a little dizzy but could rise again fast. More than the pain in his head, he was disordered because of his injured pride.

"Y-_you_… asked for it…" he panted and coughed and calmed down again. Converting all his anger into energy, he rolled up his right sleeve. "I told you to GET DOWN HERE, BITCH!" He widely struck out, landed a direct blow similar to his 'Maou Punch' on the tower and made it collapse in ruins.

When the clouds of dust cleared away, he saw the sole inhabitant of the building lying on the ground. If it were a different person, he might have already broken several bones by falling down off that height. But that wouldn't apply to that Demon!

"Oi, Hilda! How long are you planning on crawling there?!"

He didn't get an answer. "_Now, she can really overact at times_…" he thought and approached her.

"It's your fault after all! You should have listened to me and come down on your… own… hm?" He leaned forward and had a closer look on her. With her eyes closed, she kept a straight face and didn't move at all. Only then, he noticed that something was wrong with her. "Hilda…?"

He wanted to reach out an arm and shake her up as a flying object hit him hard on his head. Being hit on the same spot for the second time wasn't funny at all! He repressed making a sound of agony and tensely turned his head. The unknown item came definitely from backstage where a quivering director was standing. "_You better have a good reason for this, Furuichi!_" he muttered under his breath and scowled at him.

Furuichi himself was murmuring something incomprehensible before he breathed deeply and upheld a sign with a serious expression. Oga didn't understand what that was supposed to mean and read the text on it:

'_Hilda's acting, douche!_ … '

"Who are you calling a douche?!" he wanted to protest aloud but thought better of it and read on:

' … _Even _YOU_ should know what the Prince _charming_ needs to do to wake her up!_'

"_What the Prince needs to do?_" he thought about it and was as clueless as always.

While Oga was overstraining his brain, Furuichi was talking to the wet nurse hiding behind the curtains. "Seriously, Yolda-san, what have you done to Kunieda-san and Hilda-san? Don't tell me she's really acting…?"

"Of course not, idiot! It was Hilda herself who overused her power when she fought against the Witch and kept up a barrier all along to protect herself from my magic. That girl you call Kunieda is somewhere safe. And Hilda should come around at any moment now; I guess we'll give our stupid Prince another hint…"

Back onstage, Oga was still thinking hard but didn't find the right answer, which frustrated him even more. He turned back to Furuichi to roar at him when the latter stroke a different pose this time: he stretched his arms to the sides at a right angle and shaped a cross while a candle was burning in front of his feet.

"_What's that pinhead doing _this_ time?! If he doesn't extinguish the fire, he'll burn… himself… Wait a second!_" He finally started to grasp what Furuichi was trying to tell him. He looked at the unconscious Hilda, turned back to Furuichi and then, back to Hilda again. At the very end, he stiffly turned back to Furuichi but with a different expression this time. "Priiince Chaaaar- miiiiiing?!" he cried out with that demonic face of his.

Furuichi nodded with a straight face and appeared to contact his friend telepathically. "Do it for Hilda-san's sake, Oga! She's patiently waiting for you…"

"_Waiting for me_?!" he gulped and slowly turned his gaze to her sleeping figure. Those were also his words when he left the tower, right? It was like the Prince's promise to Rapunzel but he didn't expect that Hilda herself would take it to heart. Therefore, it would make this as Oga's promise to Hilda.

And Oga Tatsumi never reneged on a promise!

"Come what may…" he commented and kneeled in front of Hilda's body. He was slowly leaning down to accomplish something that he had always evaded ever since the Amnesia thing .Yet, he kept it at the back of his mind to kill firstly Furuichi and later, all other people responsible for the change, including that bastard Saotome, who was the root of all this crap for the main part.

That was his only motivation to finish his task as soon as possible. As Oga was already very close to her, he stopped. Looking at her face from that short distance, it triggered something inexplicable inside him anew. Suddenly, he hesitated for a moment and shook his head to get rid of the memories inside the tower. He decided to close his eyes from the very beginning to not fall for the spell again as in the tower earlier, and intended to give her a fast peck. It would be finished in the twinkling of an eye so why did it seem to be so difficult? He leaned forward, closer, closer, began to sweat, closer, closer and…

"What do you think you're doing, dunce?"

"Eh?" Oga snapped open his eyes and met her green one looking daggers at him. He blinked twice and didn't figure it out why she quitted acting. "Why did you stop?! I was taking great pains to finish this!"

"Oh? So doing _that_ with me is great pains to you?! Get off, dumbass!" Hilda pushed him away and stood up.

"That's not what I said, idiot!" He got up, too, and wanted to explain further, when someone grabbed at his shoulder. "Not now, Furuichi! You see that I'm busy-…"

"Oi, Oga!"

Surprised to hear that voice, he turned around and saw the Witch's men, namely Toujo and the rest of the Ishiyama guys.

"What the hell did you to my precious tower?!" Toujo cracked his knuckles.

"Nobody told you to destroy it, right?!" Himekawa adjusted his glasses.

"Do you know how freakin' troublesome it was to build it together?!" the last of the Touhoushinki stepped up.

"You guys wait there." A monotone voice made them stop on their heels. "Oga's my prey so you gonna step back!"

Hilda's words aroused many misunderstandings whereas one person certainly knew what she really meant. She turned her gaze to him and spoke. "I'll come to the aid of you this time, so don't die on me…" She fetched her sword and ripped one side of her dress from thigh to toe to increase her mobility. "… because that honor is due to solely me!" she grinned evilly.

"Tch! As if I'd need _your_ help to beat those bastards!" Oga got ready to fight, too.

Whereas Ishiyama's strongest couple teamed up once more to clean up the stage, the audience was silently watching and left with the feeling that they were on a different planet. Only a few people on the front row seemed to amuse themselves since the laughter of two infants resounded in the entire hall.

As for the two protagonists, they appeared as if they lost themselves in the heat of the battle, which wouldn't necessarily be new for Oga. In Hilda's case, she thought that she could kill the fool at any time after all.

However, none of them would ever know that the spell was broken long ago when Oga managed to recite that one line on his own…

* * *

><p><strong>AN**_: Starting with humor and continuing with romance, I decided to finish this one with humor again and turned the events back to… _normal_. Well, you know… normal like '_Beelzebub-ish'_!_

_Additionally, I didn't plan to include Enou & Co. from the outset and decided spontaneously since (*spoiler*) I don't plan to include them in "_**A Father, A Lover**_"._

_However, I'd like to ask one thing about the plot: after rereading previous reviews, I wondered if you really liked the idea about 'Hilda wishing to be the _princess_ for once'. I just thought it's… so _unlike_ her but I needed this as a motivation for Oga to participate in the whole event. I wanted to change that as a misunderstanding in the end but since you seemed to like it, I just left it._

_Well, I must reread this chapter later to see whether I'm satisfied with it or not. At least, the beginning and climax turned out as I wanted them to be. Therefore, I can just hope that _you_ have liked it and I'm relieved to finally have finished my second BFFN. *phew*_

_Please _review_ this story and tell me if you like it? Hate it? Have any critiques? Any suggestions? Typos? Just write something – ANYTHING is fine!_

_PS: I'm glad that I can finally continue my newest story, "_**Scum of the Hell**_" – hell YEAH!_

_Illusion137, off!_


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